Soldier missing since 1975 buried

A La Junta native who was killed in Cambodia on May 15, 1975, was laid to rest with full military honors earlier this week.

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LA Junta Tribune - La Junta, CO

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Posted Oct. 10, 2012 at 2:13 PM
Updated Oct 10, 2012 at 2:20 PM

Posted Oct. 10, 2012 at 2:13 PM
Updated Oct 10, 2012 at 2:20 PM

A La Junta native who was killed in Cambodia on May 15, 1975, was laid to rest with full military honors earlier this week.

Pfc. James Jacques had been missing since a helicopter crash during the rescue of an American ship crew was seized by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge in 1975, according to the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, his body was laid to rest with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

According to an article published in the La Junta Tribune-Democrat in 1975, Pfc. Jacques was born on Oct. 9, 1956, in La Junta. He had been a classmate of the 1975 graduating class at La Junta High School while in La Junta.

He attended La Junta Junior High School. The family moved to Denver where he attended South High School, was a wrestler and ran on the track team. He joined the U.S. Marines in October 1974. He was sent to Okinawa in April 1975 and was promoted to private first class on May 5, 1975. He was killed 10 days later.

In 1975, he was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Jacques of Denver; brothers Tony and Manuel of Denver and sisters Cecilia and Delouise Guerra of Denver.

“We never lost hope that he would come home, and that day has come,” Delouise Guerra, Jacques’ older sister, told the Associated Press. “Now we all have closure.”

Jacques, then 18 years old, was on a helicopter that crashed during the rescue of the cargo ship S.S. Mayaguez (my-ah-GWEZ) crew in May 1975. Of the 26 people aboard the helicopter, 13 were rescued and the other 13 were declared missing, including Jacques, according to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press said Jacques was among hundreds of Marines and airmen sent to storm Koh Tang Island, about 60 miles off the coast of Cambodia, to rescue the Mayaguez crew. The helicopter carrying Jacques crashed into the surf off Koh Tang Island amid unexpectedly heavy fire from Cambodian fighters.

Jacques’ identification dog tags were found in 1992, but his remains weren’t positively identified until this year, Air Force Maj. Carie Parker of the Defense Prisoner of War and Missing Personnel Office told the Associated Press.

“He was a very loving, very caring — well, he was my baby brother,” Guerra told the Associated Press. “He was just a really good person.”